Beyond Blue chair and former prime minister Julia Gillard has announced the national mental health organisation will "wholeheartedly" support the Yes vote for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
The news came as the organisation announced the appointment of former minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt as a board director after he quit the Liberal Party in April.
Ms Gillard said the Voice would play an important role in enhancing the social and emotional wellbeing of First Nations peoples.
"My view and Beyond Blue's view is really about how we want to treat each other, how we want to move forward and how we want to address the burden of mental ill health, which we know comes when people feel excluded and stigmatised," she said.
"The Voice is not going to resolve everything, of course it's not.
"But it's an important step forward to having that sense of inclusion and respect, being listened to — and that is protective of mental health."
If successful, the Voice will act as an Indigenous advisory body representing First Nations people and providing their input to the federal government on decisions, policies and laws that will affect their lives.
It would also provide permanent representation and recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the constitution.
"Ultimately, let's just think where do we want to be as a country next year, the year after, 10 years' time, 20 years' time?" Ms Gillard said.
"I'm very confident we want to be a nation that is more reconciled … and more inclusive. Where Indigenous Australians have a voice at the table.
"At the end of the day, it's as simple as that."
Ms Gillard said Beyond Blue research had shown racism causes "profound harm" to First Nations Australians and places them at greater risk of developing depression, anxiety, substance abuse and attempted suicide.
As a result, she acknowledged mental health was generally "harder" among Indigenous Australians than non-Indigenous Australians.
"That's because if people feel they aren't being heard, they aren't being included — that takes a toll," she said.
Plea for debate to be respectful, 'not full of abuse'
The pair urged the Australian public to engage in respectful debate in the lead-up to the referendum.
"The stress that we've seen our leadership put under because of the divergent views across this nation has taken its toll," Mr Wyatt said, citing ABC broadcaster Stan Grant stepping away amid a torrent of racial abuse.
"When the tone turns to a sourness, one which is based on division, that's not helpful to our nation."
Mr Wyatt's appointment comes after the former minister quit the Liberal Party in the wake of its decision to actively campaign against the Voice.
The former member of the Albanese government's Referendum Working Group said the Voice was an "incredible opportunity for Australia to move forward".
Ms Gillard said she was concerned by public debate that had become "difficult and indeed nasty".
"We do at Beyond Blue want to see a tone in this debate which is elevated, not personalised, not full of abuse," Ms Gillard said.
"The Voice is a way that as a nation, we can say we're hearing, we're listening, we're including and we want to move forward together — and that's got [a] positive mental health spin-off."
Ms Gillard, who was prime minister between 2010 and 2013, earlier this month spoke to the ABC about her opposition to same-sex marriage while in office, conceding she "got that wrong".
In 2012, Ms Gillard voted against a private members' bill that sought to legalise same-sex marriage. It was later legislated following a postal survey overseen by Liberal prime minister Malcolm Turnbull.
During her political career, Ms Gillard helped to lay the foundations for constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people when she established the Recognise campaign in 2012.
A key proposal of the campaign was to establish an Indigenous advisory body known as a Voice to Parliament.
Neither Ms Gillard nor Mr Wyatt would be drawn on Opposition Leader Peter Dutton's comments last week in which he claimed the Voice would "re-racialise" the nation.
When Australians will be asked to vote remains unknown but it is expected to be on a Saturday in the second half of the year after the major sporting grand finals have been held.
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